Light in the darkness

By Anita Balogh

Emily Carter was an ordinary girl with ordinary problems. She lived in London with her foster mother, who adopted her when her father died. To be exact, when he committed suicide. At least that's what everyone said, but Emily always doubted it. It's been years since then, but she's never forgotten her father. But when the day finally came and she became part of the adult world, a huge change happened in her life, one that she hadn't expected. A new world opened up to her, a world she had never known before: angels and demons appeared to her. And she turned out to be a Seer. Moreover, her father had left her with an important task, that only she could perform. But first, she had to overcome a series of obstacles, starting with the demons and their leader, whose main goal was to prevent her from succeeding. Fortunately, she had the help of her newfound guardian angel Jack and an unexpected ally in the form of a demon. Could they succeed in their quest? Can the girl finish what her father started and retrieve the object her father believed was the key to victory?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Underground Kiadó és Terjesztő Kft.
• Release date: May 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9789635743674

Book preview

Prologue

It was late at night, and a storm was raging. A strong wind was stirring the trees that were struggling for their lives. There were even a few people lost in the streets, trying to reach their homes and enjoy the shelter of their homes as quickly as possible. The sky was dark blue and cloudless, sometimes dotted with great flashes of lightning. It was not the usual London weather. Small rains or milder storms usually hit this big city. But this day was different. To the outside observer, it was just another evening shower. But anyone with an eye for detail would soon notice that the lightning sometimes made the sky shine in red. It was a strange phenomenon and a beautiful sight to behold.

But all this was now beyond the notice of a father. He hurriedly opened the door of his Baker Street flat. A shiver ran through his whole body as his clothes were drenched. It wasn’t just the cold raindrops that soaked his clothes, but fear. They followed him. He knew that he was not safe and that sooner or later some people would find him. But now it was happening. He had hoped he would have more time before they found him. He needed a few more years. He promised his wife that he would take good care of their daughter, but if his pursuers caught up with him, they would not just kill him. His daughter was almost certainly like him, and they would know that as soon as they saw her. As he entered the living room of his apartment, a thought drilled itself into his mind: destroy all evidence! He quickly started this process, with photographs of his little girl at birth or of him and later his child playing with him. They were fond memories that he would think back on fondly in his final hours.

A little girl emerged because of the noisy matting, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She could hardly have been more than three years old. She blinked a few times to get used to the sudden light, then looked around the room and recognized her father as the munching figure. She was so pleased that she ran to him and hugged him.

She always felt safe with her father. Even though she had the babysitter with her until her bedtime that day, she could not fall asleep with her. She missed the one person she trusted and loved so much. But now she was safe again! With a broken heart, the father leaned down and pulled his daughter away.

‘Not now, My Angel! Daddy has things to do.’ he said to his daughter gently, and then went on with what he had begun. He ran around, destroying objects and documents. When he thought he had finished, he ran upstairs and, with a loud crash and a crashing noise, destroyed the little girl’s room. ‘She doesn’t know it yet, but I did it for her,’ the father reassured himself, and then he ran downstairs again, where his daughter looked at him in fright, so he spoke in a shaky voice.

‘Dad!’

‘It’s all right, My Angel! Everything will be all right!’

He rushed to his desk and took an envelope from one of his drawers. He had written a long letter months earlier in case of an emergency. Now he felt it was time to give it to his daughter. If he was wrong, he would just put the envelope back in the drawer as if he had never taken it out. But now he turned to his daughter seriously.

‘Look, just... Let’s put these into your teddy bear...’ he handed her some pictures that had survived the destruction and the envelope. The little girl put the objects in the teddy and raised her eyes at her father again. ‘When the time comes, you can take the letter out of Mr Bear.’

The little girl was on the verge of tears but nodded. The father could see she was slightly reeling with fear. The child must have sensed his fear of what was to come.

‘Daddy, what is it?’

Before the father could answer, a loud knock shook the front door. They both came forward in fright, and the little girl instinctively threw herself into her father’s arms. There was an even louder banging in the house and the father quickly picked up his daughter and carried her to the bookcase in the living room. There he set the little one down and moved the furniture. Behind it, a secret door was revealed. It was a small hiding place where his daughter could fit in.

‘Hide in here, sweetheart, and be quiet. Don’t come out until I come back! Do you understand me?’

‘Daddy, I’m scared!’

‘You don’t have to be scared! Mr Bear will be with you.’ he smiled at his daughter and kissed her on the head. He felt tears welling up in his eyes, but he tried to stay strong for her daughter. ‘I love you, My Angel!’

The little girl hugged her father tightly, then obediently climbed into the hole. Her father closed the door and then pushed the bookcase back into place. He hoped his daughter would be safe. Then he quickly went back to his desk, where he’d taped a gun to the bottom. He now tore it off and pulled the gun up just as the front door was kicked in. Three men entered the house. They were not armed, but the father, seeing the hatred in their eyes, fired at all three. But the strangers did not stop. They easily dodged the bullets flying toward them. They ended up in the wall. The father, despite being an excellent shooter did not hit any of the intruders fatally. One was grazed by a bullet, while the other was hit in the leg. But then he ran out of bullets. The three men had already reached the father, who then engaged them in a fight. Despite being outnumbered, the father persisted; he threw a series of punches at the three men, who did not let up and fought back in the same way. It took a few minutes before they managed to force the father to the ground. His mouth was bleeding, he had several wounds and a few broken ribs.

‘Where is it? Where’s the Weapon?’ asked one of the intruders.

‘Screw you!’ he said contemptuously to the three men, and then had to spit one because he could taste blood in his mouth.

The intruders stared at him, furious until one of them (bored with the situation) dug a gun out of the back of his trousers and pointed it at the father.

‘If that’s the case... That’s for the ones you killed among us! Never to be seen in Hell again, Mr Carter!’ with that move he shot the father in the side of the head.

The man fell, and only cold death could be seen in his eyes. He was perfectly still and no longer breathing. He was an empty husk of dust from which the soul had gone. Then the culprit of the intruders put the pistol that had caused his death in the father’s hand and took the other for himself. The intruders took care to make it look like suicide, the reason for which will seem obvious given Carter’s reputation. They finished ‘cleaning up’ in minutes and then left as quickly as they came. When the front door was closed and silence fell, the little girl, pushing the books out of the way, crawled out of her hiding place and ran crying to her father.

She couldn’t believe that her father, her role model, was gone. She thought it was impossible. She had thought his father was invincible, and now he was lying there lifeless... She had been calling for his father for some time when sirens went off in the night. Police officers arrived at Carter’s house because a neighbour had reported gunshots. They entered the house with their guns drawn, moving cautiously and deliberately inside. But moments later they found the last thing they expected: a little girl crying for her dead father.

But even though the girl was present at the time of her father’s death, she saw and heard nothing besides her father. Her father had abandoned her and she was lonelier than ever.

The birthday change

‘It’s okay My Angel! Everything will be all right....’ ‘Daddy, I’m scared.....’ ‘Don’t be scared!..... I love you, My Angel!....’

‘What the hell happened here? Requesting backup!’…

‘She was alone in the house and she listened to the whole thing...’

‘Poor girl... what will happen to her now?’

‘No daddy! Dad!’

---

The loud clanging of the alarm clock woke her from her terrible sleep. Almost immediately, she reacted to the loud noise and turned it off. Still, the dreams, full of terrible memories of her childhood, persisted. The only consolation was that as the years went by, she saw fewer and fewer of these disturbing images. She wished she had never again thought of the most horrible moments of her life, but the flashbacks made sure that would never happen. There was no time to dwell on it, for she knew she had to go to school. Normally she enjoyed the daily routine of the institution, where she could get her mind off her problems, but after such a depressing and short sleep, it felt like torture to have to get out of bed. As it was still very early (the sun was just starting to rise), she had to turn on the light, which was blindingly bright to her tired eyes. It took her a few minutes to come out of her comatose state, and then she glanced at her watch and caught herself. She was glad she had prepared her uniform the day before, saving herself time. Ten minutes later she was downstairs, which she found empty. Her stepmother was still asleep, which wasn’t surprising since they usually avoided each other in the morning, which wasn’t such a bad thing. Her stepmother’s mood often fluctuated, so when she ran into her on her way home from school, she never knew what state she would find her in. She didn’t think it was so terrible. She used to complain about why she had adopted her, but fortunately, she had given up that bad habit. Or maybe she just didn’t mention it to her anymore.

In any case, when she entered the kitchen, she was surprised to see a small box, a muffin and an envelope on the table. She’d never received anything special for her birthday from her stepmother before, so she was very surprised at the little things. Looking inside the envelope, she saw the words ‘Happy Birthday’ followed by her surrogate mother’s signature. She almost called her sweet when she noticed a postscript at the bottom of the card. It told her not to expect any more gifts like this. She rolled her eyes and put the envelope back on the table. Her eyes then fell on the muffin: chocolate flavoured, which she loved. Then she took the box in her hand and opened it immediately. She was amazed at what she found inside: a necklace. Not just any necklace, but one with an angel’s wing! But how could her stepmother have known about it? No one had called her ‘Angel’ since her father died. She knew that no one knew because she hadn’t shared it with a single soul. Nevertheless, she put on the necklace, ate the muffin and was off to school.

It took her more than half an hour to get there, because she, unlike most students, didn’t take the bus or a car, but a bicycle. She didn’t have enough pocket money to afford the luxury and convenience of that kind of transport, so she had to use the bike all the time. In the meantime, she consoled herself by at least exercising and taking care of the environment.

When she got inside and looked at her watch, she made a pleasant observation. She had plenty of time before classes started, so she walked leisurely and calmly around the school corridor. She didn’t see many students, obviously because no one was desperate enough to get to the school so early. But she was not like other students: she preferred to go early rather than be late for class. Since she had been taking only five subjects in several classes, she was punctual for every class. She couldn’t risk being late for any of them. It was important for her to do well in his exams. If she ever wanted to break away from her stepmother, this was her best chance. That’s why when she sat down at a table in the corridor, she took out a textbook or two and started leafing through them. Before class, she liked to review the material, lest the teachers call her on it and she burn out because she couldn’t answer. She was still haunted by the memory of it happening to her in high school, and it was so embarrassing to her that she had since worked to make sure she didn’t fall for it again. But now she pushed those thoughts away and concentrated on her studies. It wasn’t long before she was completely absorbed in his reading. That’s what always happened to her when she was reading books. She was so absorbed that she could shut out the outside world completely. While others would complain that they couldn’t get into a book or couldn’t pay enough attention to what they were reading, she could easily do both. These were two qualities she loved about himself. She was so engrossed in studying the books that she didn’t even notice that someone was calling her. It was her girlfriend, Liz Perkins.

‘Hello! Can you hear me, Emily?’ she raised her voice and finally got an answer.

‘Liz! Sorry, I just... ‘ confused, she didn’t know what to say to Liz, but luckily she didn’t have to, because the girl did it for her.

‘…you are lost in books again.’ she finished her friend’s sentence and rolled her eyes. ‘Typical... I didn’t expect anything else.’

Emily stood up and hugged her friend who returned the kind greeting. Liz had been her best friend since high school, and no matter where or when she was always there for her. She never let her down and Emily appreciated that. She didn’t know what she’d do without her.

They let go of each other, and Liz rummaged through her purse. Emily didn’t know what to make of her friend’s behaviour. She seemed to have lost something in her bag. At least, that’s what she thought, looking at her face and the persistence with which she searched. Finally, Liz suddenly cried out and pulled a wrapped present the size of her palm out of her bag.

‘What’s that?’

‘What do you think, silly? Did you think I’d forgotten what day it was?’ she held the box out to Emily and handed it over with a big smile.

‘Thank you, but you know you shouldn’t have!’ she glared at her friend a little angrily, although inside she was very happy with the gesture and the gift. Her friend always thought of her. Sometimes she only knew when her birthday was because Liz or maybe her stepmother reminded her of it. She knew it was pathetic, but she didn’t feel that day so special. Maybe it was because she hadn’t had a real family in a long time. She didn’t know what it was like to celebrate anything with relatives. That’s why she was so grateful that even though she didn’t have any relatives, Liz was always there for her.

‘Come on, open up!’ her friend was impatient, and with further urging, Emily opened the box. She discovered two things inside. The first was a keychain with a picture of Emily and Liz together. It was taken the previous year when they went on a trip together. It was one of Emily’s few good days.

‘It’s to let you know that even if not physically, I’m always there with you in spirit.’ Liz explained to her friend, helping her out. Then she turned the conversation to the other. ‘And that little thing is good for self-defence.’

Emily glanced at the other object, a blue lipstick. She stared at her friend, baffled: she didn’t know how a make-up tool could be used for self-defence. The other reason for that glance was that she didn’t know why she’d gotten a make-up kit when Liz knew she wasn’t really into that sort of thing. She didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but it wasn’t clear to her why she was getting it. Nevertheless, she took the item out of the box and examined it more closely. It had a royal blue exterior. Of course, it was, she loved the colour blue, and her girlfriend was well aware of that. But when she took off the lipstick cap, it was not what she expected. Instead of the usual inside, there was a little knife inside.

‘Liz! What the hell?’ she glared at the girl across from her, who shrugged. ‘Thanks for the presents, but it’s still...’

‘Don’t tell me it’s too much!’ she looked at Emily with a serious look, then shrugged. ‘Anyway, it will come in handy tonight.’

At this, Emily had her head up. She didn’t like that remark. What had her friend arranged?

‘Why tonight?’ she looked at Liz with suspicion and curiosity.

‘We’re going out!’ she announced cheerfully. Emily rolled her eyes as she didn’t feel like going out, especially not in the evening. But she didn’t want to offend her friend, so she merely dropped a forced smile in a ‘Super’ entourage. However, as soon as they realised how much time had passed, they rushed off to their first class of the day.

---

‘Are you sure this is a good idea?’ Emily turned hesitantly to her friend. It was getting late in the evening, and they were standing outside the nightclub entrance. They waited for the queue to move and to be let in.

‘Of course, it is, because I’d made it up.’ smiled away Liz. ‘You don’t want to stumble just before the finish line! I couldn’t wait for you to turn eighteen so we could celebrate this day properly. A little drinking won’t hurt us...’ and then she added a quick word of advice. ‘You don’t always have to be a good girl.’

Liz was not right at all. Emily felt that she just wasn’t always good. She used to not do her homework, not follow the rules at home, or never get off her bike when she rode her bike, for example. Only the latter had happened recently. It was a fact that she didn’t like getting into trouble. As she looked at the young people in front of her and thought about how much trouble they must have gone through to get ready, she recalled how she had spent her afternoon.

School went by relatively quickly, so she and her girlfriend then went out for lunch in high spirits. They went to her favourite restaurant where they had the most delicious fish and chips. It was not a very special dish, but she liked it. Since she wasn’t spoiled, she wasn’t used to fancy delicacies. But she didn’t mind. Perhaps she was only a little sorry that when she went home in the afternoon and asked her stepmother about the evening, she let her off easy. She would have expected some resistance from her, but it didn’t happen. So, not wanting to lie to Liz, they exchanged messages about when and where they would meet, and then she could start getting ready. She didn’t exert herself during the afternoon. As dressing up was not her thing, she just applied a light make-up look to her face and took out the only dress she had in reserve for a special night out. It was all black, and the skirt part came almost to her knees. But before she could put it on, she pulled a pair of stockings from the bottom of her wardrobe, which she pulled on with difficulty. The last thing she left was her hair. It was a light brown and so thick and shiny that it took her at least half an hour to get it ready. She sighed a bit when she thought she was ready to go. She took one last look in the mirror. She didn’t look so bad. She often didn’t feel like spending time primping and dressing up, but when she did, she was always surprised at how different she looked. It was as if she wasn’t looking back at herself, but at a completely different person. But it could also be that she was the only one who saw it that way.

She met Liz a few blocks from the club, about half an hour before their party started. Neither of them wanted to go alone and Emily needed a stylish little bag, which she got from her friend. She had to take a few things with her, starting with the two things her friend had given her the morning before and ending with the envelope she couldn’t wait to open. When Liz saw the white sheet of paper, she asked.

‘What’s that?’

‘Nothing,’ Emily quickly replied.

‘You’re not bringing anything to read, are you?’ she eyed the birthday girl suspiciously.

‘Of course not. It’s just a piece of paper,’ she told her friend innocently, but as she was still looking at Emily, she was careful, to tell the truth. ‘Okay, it’s the letter from my father.’

‘No way!’ looked Liz in surprise. It was almost a week ago that Emily had told her about the letter her father had left her so that when the time came she would read it and find out some things. No one knew about it but her; not even the police. What was in her plush was hidden from everyone. But her friend had earned the right to tell her about those things.

‘Yes, it is. I’ve been waiting for years to open it and read it. As soon as I officially turn eighteen, I’ll do it. I am not willing to wait another minute!’ she declared to her girlfriend and then gently added ‘Please!’

‘Okay. If you insist.’

‘You are free to go!’ Emily was jerked back to the present by the security guard’s voice. Her girlfriend gave her a helping hand and was already pushing her into the club. They were greeted by a large crowd and loud music, which Liz was enjoying. For Emily, this was all a new experience and it took some time to get used to the different surroundings. The club was full of people at her and also older than her, dancing and emptying their glasses. It was an unusual sight, but she felt she would like to try out all the things they were doing.

For the first time, she thought she could belong, and all she had to do was follow the example of others.

‘How cool is this, right?’ Liz’s eyes sparkled as the moving lights flashed on her for a moment. ‘Come on, let’s go to the counter!’

Together, they made their way to the counter, where, thanks to the speed of the bar staff, they were in line in a few minutes. Liz ordered two cocktails for themselves and made it clear to Emily that she would be buying that round. She preferred not to argue with her and left it to her stubborn friend. After a few minutes, the drinks were ready, and when they finally had them in hand, Liz spoke up to propose a toast.

‘To you, for finally coming of age and making it this far. Cheers!’

‘Thank you!’ she said to her friend with a toast. The drink had a pleasant taste and she could barely taste the alcohol. After a few sips, they put the glass down on the bar and enjoyed each other’s company.

Although they had had few drinks during the evening, they had a pleasant and very enjoyable few hours. They talked a lot, and Liz had a hard time getting Emily to join her on the dance floor. Although she could only keep her friend dancing for a few brief minutes, she counted it as a success in herself. The good vibes made the time fly. The minutes seemed like seconds, and they didn’t feel them pass until Emily’s phone vibrated. One after the other, it beeped several times, lest she